A Move to TN with our dogs and horses is our dream, North or South of Knox? (Knoxville: fit in, rental)

[CountryGal1289]

Hi all,
My husband and I live in Florida and have always dreamed of moving to Tennessee. Now that our kids are grown, our town is filled with tourists and snowbirds, and life here pretty much sucks, we want to get the heck out of here. We're down to earth, small town people (originally from Ohio, but have lived in SW florida for 14 years) and we don't fit in here on the gulf coast anymore. We are missing season changes, nice friendly people and we are sick of hurricane season.
Problem is we have a couple horses and I won't leave without them. Are there any small rental houses with barn and pasture outside of Knoxville? Is horse boarding facilities expensive there? At this point I'd live in a trailer on a couple acres with a two stall barn. Just so we could live in TN, plant a garden and never have to look at a palm tree, a hurricane or a snobby snowbird from New Jersey ever again. Thanks for all your help!!

[oldmanbob]

Hey countrygal/1289, good choice and sounds like you need to move sooner, verses later. You might need to check out both North and South Knoxville, as in North, you would be in the Halls area, and South, you cant go wrong with Seymour. Both are 30 minutes, from downtown Knoxville, and both have plenty of open country, for you, and your 2 horses. Good luck, and hope you find your perfect home. Boarding can be fairly expensive, unless you would want to swap some barn and stable work, for price reductions.

[JMT]

As always, oldmanbob is the voice of wisdom. He gives great advice.

I haven't investigated this, but I'm thinking that maybe land is cheaper north of Knoxville than south because south of Knoxville gets into the toursity areas. Like I said, I don't know this for a fact, but it's just a hunch.

But either way, you'll end up in a beautiful part of the country! As a reformed Floridian myself, I can tell you that the Knoxville area is wonderful.

[CountryGal1289]

Thanks Bob, What would be expensive for boarding? We pay $475 a month, for each horse. Or would we be better off finding a place where they could live with us? Working at a barn would not be a problem, my husband and I have a Landscape business here, hard work in hot humid conditions. But you are right about moving sooner rather than later, this place is driving us both nuts. We're surrounded by rich snobs who drive Jaguars and they are miserable and rude. My husband and I are friendly, polite people who drive Ford trucks and we're always dirty.

[CountryGal1289]

Thanks JMT, we are planning a trip to check out Knoxville and both North and South. Oh we definitely don't want to live in a touristy area, that's for sure!! Had enough of that here, we live two miles from the gulf.

[CountryGal1289]

I've been reading posts all evening, and we both love what everyone says about Knoxville. Sounds like just what we need, mostly the part about how friendly people are. I could talk all day to a total stranger, but here I get dirty looks if I smile at someone, or say hi. I hate it. The only thing we have that keeps us sane is the barn where we board our horses. There are a few other small town people like us who we ride with. But there's still the snobs there too, luckily they're too good to be associated with us. Lol

[Kitties of Domination]

Strawberry Plains/New Market area.

[MountainAire]

I just drifted off the Chattanooga board when i saw your post. You sound like I did. I'm from Florida too, total horseperson missing the seasons and been outside Chattanooga in the Sequatchie Valley now for 15 years of pure horsey bliss. $475 a month around my area for boarding is just unheard of. Come this way and I can hook you up.

[William Sold]

Country Gal,

Mtn Aire was pretty right on with the price. $475 is a bit high, unless it's a full service facility (feed/hay included, grooming, bathing,etc). I've seen some pretty reasonable rates, $250 for some, self service as far as feeding/bathing. There are tons of boards available within a 20-30 mile circumference of Knoxville. West will run more expensive on the housing, while north and east of Knoxville will probably be your best bet as far as price. Seymour may have some good options as mentioned. Do you have a monthly budget, including rental and board fees? That will probably help us determine which area will have a better fit.

[piedmont]

Boarding rates are all over the place here. A place with an iffy barn, barb wire fence and ? care might be $100-200/month. A place with nice facilities, horse safe fencing, arenas and trails, plus great care could be $400-600. It's pretty cheap compared to where I'm from (NC) and probably from a FL perspective, too.

Lots of folks rent out pastures (which may or may not have horse safe fencing or facilities) for very little. That could be an option for you, too.

Mobiles on horse-able acreages are very common around here. As said earlier, north of Knox might be cheaper, but it can also be hillier. South of Knox, prices will go up the closer you get to Maryville or Sevierville/Gatlinburg. Seymour as well as Rockford/Alcoa areas could be worth checking out. Depending on how far out from a large town you want to live, you might also look around Monroe and McMinn counties.

And the Sequatchie Valley area north west of Chattanooga is just gorgeous!